


Looking Like Fire

by Zedoktor



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 18:51:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12463746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zedoktor/pseuds/Zedoktor
Summary: Engineer feels the heat in nothing but a look.





	Looking Like Fire

Long days of battle, hard nights of cold. All Engineer could think, when they trudged indoors with the snow and mud trailing in every step, was that he was a long way from the lazy summer heat of Texas.

He was a long way from a lot of good things.

The Coldfront base was frigid. He disliked it on principle, and itched to get at its inner workings to see if he could get the radiators working properly, but exhaustion went a long way to keeping his usual mechanical instincts under wraps. So he endured, and thought of the money, and everything it would eventually buy for him once he returned to civilization in a warmer climate.

The showers were warm. That, at least, made the experience bearable; there was plenty of hot water for all of them, which made the general low temperature of the base all the more strange. He let the others push and shove their way through their after-battle ablutions first, though. A long, uninterrupted shower was everything he needed after a quick snack. Dinner would come later, when he felt more like himself.

He slipped into the locker room when it became quiet. The lingering steam caressed his face with the promise of all-encompassing warmth to come. But he had barely removed his hat and glove before his daydreaming was interrupted, and a short, rubber-suit clad figure ambled into the room.

Pyro waved in a friendly fashion, and said something indistinct. Engineer could hardly be unwelcoming, even though he was instantly disappointed in having to share the showers. He nodded amiably in return.

“Naw, y'ain’t botherin’ no one, partner. Plenty of space here now that the others cleared out.” He turned back to his own locker, mumbled under his breath. “I’m jus’ havin’ a shower.”

That should have been the end of the conversation. It wasn’t as if Pyro had much to say anyway. He was rarely seen outside the suit, and even that had been long enough that Engineer couldn’t immediately recall his face.

He unhooked his overalls, and was suddenly struck by the feeling of being watched.

His fingers paused for a moment. He didn’t dare look back. The prickle on his neck remained, and he had faced too many Spies not to trust it implicitly. Pyro was watching him get undressed.

Engineer’s hands moved again, and pushed his overalls down to his waist. He pulled up his T-shirt, and shucked it off and into the locker. He had to stretch, arms above his head and bending left and right - to get the knots out of his back, of course, but it also happened to show off his physique pretty well.

There was a loud clanking noise, and he glanced over his shoulder at Pyro. The large canister of oxygen that he habitually carried around had hit the floor and fallen over, instead of being placed in his locker. Pyro looked apologetic even with the mask, and quickly bundled it away.

Engineer turned back, and a small smile began to take shape on his face while another kind of heat grew in his cheeks. It had been quite a while since someone had admired him, even in passing. He leaned against his locker with one hand, and pulled off his boots and socks with the other. He neatly placed them into it, while his overalls began to slide a little off his hips.

The bench behind him groaned with the weight of a person. Engineer risked another glance. Pyro sat down, and his hands were busy with the clasp of his suit. Engineer stood up again and cleared his throat, suddenly absorbed in thoughts of what lay under it. The gaze of that featureless mask seemed to know exactly what lay in his mind, and it was both uncomfortable and exciting at the same time. He covered his hesitation as best he could, and pushed the last of his clothes down to his ankles.

The room was silent, except for the occasional clunk and whirr of the water pipes. Engineer kicked his overalls and underwear into his locker, and shut it carelessly. The noise of the slight squeak in the hinge seemed as loud as a megaphone. He tried to stop himself from looking back, but he was drawn to Pyro again as he walked to the towel rack and picked one up.

Pyro’s mask popped off his head. Engineer didn’t remember his hair being so short, or the slight narrowness to his face, but that could simply be a failing of his own recollection. The look in his eyes, however, had to be new; Engineer couldn’t imagine ever forgetting the glint of fire and hidden intensity and a raw kind of wanting. No man on earth could meet those eyes and feel nothing.

Engineer fumbled with the towel and that was enough to tear his gaze away. He wrapped it around his waist, and then felt almost silly, and more than a little fearless. The warmth of the showers beckoned, and the warmth emanating from the man sitting on the bench did the same. It had been so long since he had felt more than a superficial kind of heat. It had been so long since he had truly burned.

Engineer held the towel up, and walked to the entrance to the showers with measured steps. Before he lost himself in the steam, he looked back one last time, and watched Pyro unzip his suit to the waist. He gave a quick nod of his head towards the waiting heat - almost a challenge, for Pyro to follow him if he dared, and perhaps they would both lose themselves in it for a while.

He heard the creak of the bench as he hung up his towel, and the rustle of clothing. Engineer’s smile grew. He didn’t need to look to know that his night was about to get a lot more exciting.


End file.
